Shirley Wohlfield first became involved in local politics when in 1973, in an effort to protect her three sons from what she viewed as the dangers of court-ordered desegregation via busing, she began organizing efforts to stop forced busing in 1973. Like many of her colleagues, Wohlfield entered this movement with little experience in political and social protest organization. Convinced of the rectitude of her position, Wohlfield organized the Northeast Mothers Alert, serving as secretary and president of Mothers Alert Detroit, which eventually affiliated with the National Association for Neighborhood Schools. This broadening of scope from neighborhood to city to nation reflects the extent to which these activists would go in order to secure local control over education. The antibusing movement peaked from 1975 to 1976 when Mothers Alert Detroit counted over two thousand members. After court decisions limited busing for desegregation to within Detroit city bounds, antibusing activism abated. Whites chose to remove their children from possible risk by moving from the city or enrolling them in private schools.
Mothers Alert Detroit did not confine its activities to anti-busing. As the busing issue subsided, Wohlfield joined protests against issues such as the Equal Rights Amendment and teaching about population control in the schools. These activities led to her involvement in related organizations such as Happiness of Womanhood, Inc. (HOW), an organization led by Patt Barbour and begun around 1973. This national group stressed the "joys of womanhood and the preservation of femininity." One of its objectives was to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment.
Involvement in MAD and HOW eventually led Wohlfield to participation in the conservative 14th Congressional District of the Michigan Republican Party. Wohlfield served as secretary for the district committee for several years and as a member of the State Republican Committee during 1981 where she represented the 14th District on the Campaign Committee.
From the guide to the Shirley Wohlfield Papers, 1972-1988, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
